Touhou Rasenkyou: The Borderline of Waking Nightmare
by Masked Doll Victoria
Summary: When the citizens of Gensokyo find themselves plagued by otherworldly nightmares, can the shrine maiden of a future generation save them? Yukari x Reimu, OCs, Science Babies.
1. The End of an Era

Bunbunmaru Newspaper

Season 180, Month X

" **New Shrine Maiden Causes Stir at Hakurei Shrine."**

By Kanoe Shameimaru

 **-** Hakurei Shrine

A crowd of dozens assembled around Hakurei Shrine today as Reimu Hakurei, Gensokyo's beloved solver of incidents and the shrine's resident maiden for the last thirty five seasons, had previously announced that she would reveal something important that would, in her words, be "very very interesting!"

The gathered mob, which consisted of youkai and humans alike, waited with baited breath. Gossip amongst the crowd was a fevered pitch as well. With many quietly speculating as to just what the Shrine Maiden of Paradise woulds reveal. Though there were many theories about the matter, some to steamy to print here, the general consensus that morning was that the announcement would concern the future of the shrine, as Reimu herself was getting older and would soon need to name a successor both for the sake of continuing the shrine's long history, and protecting the peace of Gensokyo as a whole.

"Reimu is starting to go a little gray in the hair," said one local blonde-haired magician attending the event who wished not to be named here. "So its high time she pick somebody to take over when she's to old to run off and solve an incident on her own anymore. I mean, I'm sure she'll be just fine for another decade or so, but it couldn't hurt ze."

As the sun reached its zenith, and the time struck noon, Reimu finally appeared from within the shrine's main building wearing white robes more conservative in design then she had worn at her height a few decades before. Her face was wrinkled and her black hair beginning to show slivers of gray and silver, making her appear wizened to a degree that seemed to paint a look of concern across the faces of her many friends who stood in the audience, many of whom remained unaffected by the passage of time and the ravages of aging despite their long lifetimes.

"It's really sad to see Reimu looking like that." One Oni told our reporter between drinks from a gigantic gourd of sake. "It just reminds me that she's gonna die someday, and then I'll have to find someone new to host all of my drinking parties!"

Alongside the shrine maiden was a girl of no older then fifteen, that many at the scene would later describe as "unsettling" and "otherworldly." She was tall for her age, perhaps an inch or so more then the Hakurei shrine maiden. While her hair was long and colored a bright blond, and her facial features were severe and her eyes sharp. On her back she wore the traditional robes of the Hakurei family, just as Reimu had decades before, but colored a deep purple rather then the typical red.

Reimu's laid her right hand on the strange young girl's shoulder, she then smiled at the crowd. It was an attempt to add an element of familiarity but only bred murmurs arose from the mixed company. Many spoke in hushed voices and asked amongst themselves if anyone around them knew just what going on, while some stood in silence. The shrine maiden of had pulled plenty of crazy stunts in the past, as most of our long time readers may recall, but none of them had ever involved a mysterious child before. So they watched on, waiting with an air of apprehension of what may come next.

"Hello everyone!" the shrine maiden greeted the quiet crowd, eliciting only few cries of "hello!" in return. "I don't like giving speeches, so I will keep this short."

Reimu then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and exhaled in kind. whatever she was going to say next must have been important indeed. When she finally spoke, her tone was casual in tone and no different then that she used when chatting up guests at a drinking party, or addressing a merchant at a local market. Never serious unless she had to be and casual to the core, Reimu was always like this and everyone at the Bunbunmaru and everyone else in Gensokyo would likely not have it any otherway.

"So I've been thinking a lot about the future quite a bit these past few years, and not to long ago I came to the conclusion that I just can't be the Hakurei shrine maiden forever. Someday I'm going to get old, and even die. And even though I really love you guys, I'm only human, and won't be around forever!" some amongst the crowd chuckled at the shrine maiden's morbid attempt at a joke, but the rest stood in abject silence, unsure what to make of this very strange and very awkward situation. "So, eventually I decided that I had to find someone to replace me... It took a very long time to to find the right candidate for the job. But in the end, I chose this cute girl right here."

Reimu then pushed the small girl forward for all to see, causing her to trip just once before quickly catching herself and standing tall in front of the assembled onl ookers. While the elder shrine maiden was a picture of joviality and good humor, the girl she had described as "cute" looked more like the leader of a small nation and carried herself in such a manner. Standing up straighter then a tree and staring at the crowd before her as if she would soon be addressing an entire nation under her rule.

"Her name is Asumu Hakurei," Reimu explained with glee, then stepped forward and patted the girl named Asumu on the head. "and she is my daughter and the next shrine maiden of the Hakurei family."

Asumu then walked forward and bowed to the assembled crowd of humans and youkai alike. Her movements were proper, and voice elegant. In other words, she was nothing like the woman who had just introduced her save for her manner of dress and shared last name.

"As my mother explained, I am Asumu Hakurei and I look forward to serving you all in the near future." she said before returning to her mother's side and silencing herself once more.

Whispers erupted from the crowd.

"Is she even married?" one woman gossiped quietly.

"That kid looks nothing like her!" a man cried far to loudly.

"Eh, as long as she keeps on protecting us from all those terrible monsters, I don't really care either way!" An old man added while stroking his beard. According to several sources at the scene, this comment was greeted by several nasty looks from the non-human element in the crowd.

The elder shrine maiden then tried to calm the crowd with a few choice words and a hand signal to simmer down."Calm down everybody!" she said. "I know this will be a big change, but Asumu has been training for several years as a shrine maiden, and is every bit as talented as I am. So there will be nothing to worry about at all, I promise."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in leisure, with drinking, food, and other festivities taking place at the shrine grounds from about one in the afternoon until eight at night. Though fun was had by all, our reporters included, an air of unease seemed to hang over the area, as many were still attempting to come to terms with the fact that the shrine maiden that had served them for almost half a century was finally retiring, and that she had a child to boot.

"I'm not sure what I think." another of Gensokyo's shrine maidens told our reporter during the party. "I'm sure this new child will do just fine, especially if Reimu trained her herself. But I have to stop and wonder how it was that one of the most famous women in all of Gensokyo managed to hide the fact that she had a child for over a decade and a half, its simply scandalous!"

By the end of the night everyone assembled at the shrine was either to drunk or their stomachs to full to care about the future and headed home without incident. While Reimu and her "daughter" had disappeared once more into the shrine's innards, away from prying eyes and whispered gossip of friends and worshipers alike.

Epilogue: **Boundary**

The night sky was quiet, and calm. Unlike the world outside, who's heavens had long ago been twisted beyond recognition by city lights and passing planes, it was a sky filled with a sea of stars that seem to stretch eternally in every possible direction. One could become lost in such splendor, but for the residents of Gensokyo it was a sight not of wonder, but of familiarity. Under those stars mother and daughter sat together on the steps of the Hakurei Shrine, still dressed in their ceremonial vestments, and drinking together from a rather large bottle of sake that stood tall between the two of them like a lone tree growing in an isolated grove.

"Did I do well, mother?" Asumu asked while sipping her alcoholic drink from a small saucer.

Freed from her obligations of the afternoon, Asumu now drank happily and freely to the point that her face had turned a blush. It was a face she would never show to the public, especially now that she was officially a shrine maiden of Hakurei shrine. Truly enough, her mother had been known as a drunk and something of a reveler in her younger days, but the this child had no desire for such honorifics and kept her debauchery a completely private affair.

Reimu then used her free hand to ruffle her child's hair and then smiled a warm and radiant smile. "You did just fine, and certainly better then I did when my mom announced I was going to be the next Hakurei shrine maiden." Reimu's wide smile then inverted into a frown. How long had it been since her mother had dragged her out on stage and declared loudly that her daughter would be the next shrine maiden? By her own memory, it has been nearly forty seasons ago, in a time far different then the present. There were next to no youkai amongst the assemblage back then, she recalled and certainly no party thrown afterwords to celebrate the occasion. In fact it hadn't been fun at all! She had simply been trotted upon the shrine's front steps, shown off like a prized pony, and then spirited back into the shrine to study for the rest of the night while her mother greeted well wishers and other fair weather friends of the shrine for nearly three hours.

Reimu looked at the clear night sky dotted with so many stars and a bright moon and sighed, both for the sake of nostalgia and the misspent moments of her own long youth. How many days had she lost to that training, and how many hours wasted sitting in the dark and studying arcane lore that she could no longer even recall? Not even the former shrine maiden could recall, and with no other recourse to those lost moments, she simply sighed again.

"I really hope I've been a better mom to you then she was to me, Asumu." she began to babble, her words flowing like sake from that massive bottle and slurred together as if they were stuck together with paste. "But you know what? Forget about that! The only thing you need to remember from tonight and that is this: there is really is no sake in the world better then that brewed by Oni. You should remember that, Asumu. It might come in handy someday"

"Please just stop, mother. You're clearly drunk, and have no idea about what you're blabbering on about." Asumu stated plainly. "But I will remember that nonetheless, just as I will remember everything you and "her" have taught me these past five years or so. As I believe. no information is truly worthless, and I never know when some useless bit of trivia may be essential to my role as shrine maiden and protector of this phantom country."

Unable to help herself, Reimu laughed long and hard, slapping her free hand against the wooden steps of the shrine as she did. In the process she spilled a great deal of sake from her small dish, causing her daughter to sigh in disgust at the sight of such waste. "When you were born I never thought that my daughter would grow up to be a serious person! I mean where did it even come from?"

"Perhaps I simply take after my mother," Asumu joked in her own low key attempt at humor. "But regardless of where my temperament originated from, I must ask, are you still planning on returning home after the night is through to visit "her?" Asumu asked.

Remiu stopped drinking, tossed aside her silliness for the moment, and nodded. "I am, I've been a shrine maiden for the last three decades so I think I've earned a little time off. Will you be all right for a few months with me gone?" she asked of her daughter with a very serious look.

"Of course, I will. Do you have any doubt in your mind that I'm anything besides a completely capable person? As I see it, the only real question here is if you want to fly there, or if I should open a short cut like I usually do."

"Your mom will take the latter, I'm just a little bit drunk and I don't think I'd get there in one piece if I flew."

"I would say that you are very very drunk. But very well, the usual it is then then."

With a wave of her hand that still contained a saucer of Sake, Asumu opened in front of the shrine a small rip in the fabric of time-space that looked as if someone had taken a knife to the very seams of reality. It pulsated and rippled in time to a rhythm older then the human race and more ancient then the concept of thought. Within it was a black and purple eternity, punctuated only by the sight of endless eyes and gnashing teeth. In fact, so wretched was the thing that that it seemed as if one were to stare at it for to long, that they might lose something precious more precious then gold or jewels in the process.

It was an awful, terrible, and downright discomforting sight, yet Reimu approached it as if she had done so a hundred times before nonetheless. Slowly, as not to topple over in her drunken stupor, she came closer and closer until she finally stood before the pulsing portal. She then finally placed one hand on the rift and looking back at her daughter, several tears ran down her pale and slightly wrinkled face while her lips quivered. "Will you really be ok with your mom? Three months is a very long time you know!"

"I'll be just fine, mother. Now go!" she commanded with great force and a thrust of her open plam. that woman is waiting for you, and you know how much she hates waiting."

"I guess this is goodbye then. Remember to take care of yourself, and clean up the shrine once a day! I never really did that, but you really should. Its important I mean..." she said crying.

"I know all of that, so please, just go already. My sake will go cold if I must sit and listen to you blabber on for much longer" Asumu stated between sips.

"All right then. Have a good time without me, and I will see you soon. And remember that I will alway love you no matter what!" With those words and a vigorous wave, Reimu finally stepped through the gap and left for a place unknown to all but herself, her daughter, and one other person. The gap then blinked out of existence just as quickly as it had came, and with its departure the aura of the area returned to normal as well.

"I love you to, mom." Asumu said quietly to herself. "And I suppose, if you can hear this, tell that to my other mother as well."


	2. Nightmares

Like a garden of flowers in full bloom, the skies over Hakurei Shrine exploded with dozens of colors in just as many patterns. Between the cascade of fireworks and explosives, two lone lights danced against the back drop of a pure night sky lit by hundreds of stars. This was a common sight in Gensokyo, the performance known as Spell Card battle that the previous Hakurei maiden had devised to prevent the phantom country from becoming awash in a sea of blood and carnage. The night's duel was between two girls, one a witch, and the other a shrine maiden of questionable blood. But this was not a battle for supremacy, or even bragging rights. But rather, it was one of practice.

"Come on, you'll have to do better then that if you want to beat me ze!" a voice echoed through the heavens. It belonged to an aged woman dressed in a black dress with white bloomers, her face was wrinkled ever so slightly and her hair showing signs of graying. In a place where mortality was often more a question of "Why?" then "When?" her aged face was something of an oddity. Friends had long told her that there was no need to walk such a road, nor bear such burdens upon her face. Yet all she had done was smile and utter a simple turn of phrase. "I'm just a human." She had said years ago. "And this is just how these things go for us."

From atop her broom, the elder witch pulled down her right eyelid and stuck out her tongue in a show of juvenile jest, even in her advanced age some habits die hard. Her insult was directed at a girl just a few hundred feet away, who hung in the night sky without aid of an external device. The shrine maiden, ground her teeth loudly and furrowed her brow at such an insult with such intensity that even the light of the stars seemed to avoid her presence, leaving her frame dark against the canvass of the dark night. "Hmph, just because you're my mother's best friend does not mean that you will get away with mocking me, Marisa Kirisame!"

Redoubling her attack, Asumu tossed from her hands dozens of red and white seals in a cascade that fanned out from her person in a wide arch nearly five meters across its largest point. The cards streaked across the sky like bullets, and closed the gap between her and her foe in a matter of seconds. It was an impressive assault, and but also lacked refinement and finesse. Though each projectile was imbued with great speed and power, there was no theatrics to her attacks, and no element of showmanship at all. Hers were Danmaku meant to attack and defend, and nothing more.

Each of Asumu's bullets battered Marisa's body one after another until they joined as one in an explosion of red and white that glowed with such intensity, that it looked for just a moment as if the sun had risen. Yet despite the sheer number of the seals that connected with her person, and the power each possessed, the witch never once howled in pain, or even flinched. "Did I get her, did I win?" Asumu wondered aloud with great excitement. And she watched, watched as her many seals disintegrated into a glittering dust and fell to the earth, and the midnight sun of an explosion dissipated and returned the stolen night to its proper place. She giggled with excitement. She had never truly won a Spell Card battle against a person as power as the legendary Marisa before and for it her heart beat at twice its normal speed.

But when the attack subsided and the sparkling remnants of her spell cards returned to dust. the only sight with which she was greeted was that of a smiling Marisa, who was surrounded by a great blue barrier and wagging her finger gently through the air in jest. "Barrier magic." she explained. "Barrier Sign: Eternal Seal, to be technical. A little something I cooked up years ago to deal with those same cards your mom was so keen on ze."

And her words were met with nothing but anger, as Asumu furrowed her brow once more and upped the ante, calling forth from the long sleeves of her shrine robes a black and white ball emblazoned with the Taoist symbols of yin and yang. At the sight of the strange orb, Marisa's smile grew keener, and her eyes sharp. "The Yin Yang Orb, huh? How many years has it been since I've seen that thing." she said with an air of nostalgia. "But I guess this means you're getting serious then? Well good, I'd be worried if you couldn't beat an old lady like me in a Spell Card fight."

Asumu met her elder's words with action, throwing the Hakurei Shrine's sacred treasure into the air and then, much as her mother had countless years and incidents ago, spoke aloud her technique's given name. "Treasured Sign..."

Across the sky, Marisa shook in excitement, her skin tingling and eyes aglow with wonder. " _This is it!_ " she thought to herself. " _She's finally going to do it!"_

"Dancing Yin Yang Gap!" With those words a single purple portal appeared beside Asumu, and through it she lobbed the black and white orb. Where it would emerge was anyone's guess, but given its owner's serious expression, it was likely somewhere very painful.

"GAP?" Marisa yelled aloud, her eyes wide with shock, this was not good.

But before she could react further, all around her reality seem to be torn asunder, as purple gashes appeared one after another, each bearing on both ends a purple ribbon that resembled that which Asumu wore on her head. From within each, Marisa could see nothing but eyes and teeth, and her heart filled with fear. Though she had only seen those gaps on a few occasions in her long life, each time it had chilled her to the bone. There was simply something to alien about them. Something that screamed "this thing should not be!" It was the same feeling that coursed through her body in the present, as she sat surrounded by a blockade of the strange gateways

But before the witch could take evasive action, from within one otherworldly portal the Yin Yang Orb shot as if from a cannon, whizzing through the air with great speed and barely missing Marisa's head by a matter of inches as it did. "She wasn't even trying to hit me with that one." she thought to herself. "It was just a warning." It was a show of power meant not to harm but to say "Look at all I've done and all I've accomplished!" She peered across the sky, shaking with just a tinge of fear, only to behold Asumu hovering in place, her eyes closed and mind intently set on maintaining the cannonade of gaps and spheres she had created with just a single spell card. Such power this child possessed, such intensity. If she could control it, she might be a grand shrine maiden some day, just as her mother was.

But there was no time to dwell on such thoughts, as from every possible the black and white ball shot again and again, each time coming closer to impacting Marisa's tiny frame. Though there was only a single orb being fired from the array of gaps, it sometimes seemed as if there were dozens, such was the speed and intensity of Asumu's attack. On her broom Marisa weaved and wobbled, turned and banked , through the field of black, white, and purple in an effort to dodge the unrelenting assault. Through it all, she never suffered a single blow or scrape. Though several times she had been grazed, she had not been burned.

But even a spell caster so tempered by decades of battle and running away from those she had stolen from as Marisa could go for so long. And though her movement's were precise, and quick as a hare, she was no longer young and could not fight with the zeal she had in her youth. With each attack she dodged, her movement seemed to slow and her breath grew heavy and more labored

"Time out!" she called while wheezing and forming a T shape with her hands in a moment between attacks. "This Spell Card is way to dangerous for a sparing match. You better call it off before someone gets hurts."

But despite call for peace, the assault continued without a word from the current Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

The Yin Yang Orb still bound between gaps like a pinball and seemingly gained speed with each passing moment. Were it to connect Marisa would likely lose balance and plummet from her broom to the ground below, impacting the stone walkway leading to the shrine and hurting herself horribly in the process. She needed a plan, but how could one her age defeat such a wild child? She may have had the skill, but Asumu's was a raw and unfocused power that consumed everything set before her... Then it came to her in a flash. A way to turn that power to her own ends. "I've got it!" she exclaimed. So she sped forward atop her trusty broom, avoiding the gap-fired fire as best she could, and soon escaped the purple hell of teeth and eyes to come to a rest about a dozen feet above Asumu's head. Though winded she was, and on the verge of collapse, were her gambit to work, this battle would be decided in a single move.

The shrine maiden looked up, a smile on her face and crowed. "You said I'd have to try harder to beat you, and I did! See, aren't my gaps wonderful?"

Marisa frowned from on high and shook her head in disapproval. "Those things are more dangerous then you know, and I'll prove that right now ze! So go ahead, open another one and see what happens."

Asumu did, and another gap appeared just above Marisa's position. Pulsing with great power, the Ying Yang Ball fired forth from the hole in reality and flew forward through the air. Further and faster it went, until it arrived where Marisa's head should have been..but found only air, as the witch herself had gently flew just a few feet to the side, her tongue once more extended, and a fit of laughter accompanying it all. "I told you that you would end up hurting someone, Asumu." she scolded.

The sacred treasure then flew further still, its owner to shocked to move, and collided with her head. The impact was great, and pressed against the top of her skull with an amazing force that rattled her brain like a bell and sent a great cracking sound echoing through the night sky. "I really messed this one up, didn't I?" she said in a light and airy voice, as she began to fall, no longer possessing the power of will to hold herself aloft.

And her eyes grew heavy, her body fell like a feather, and into the darkness she went.

* * *

She could hear it. She could hear it! A voice wh

* * *

ispering upon the winds and in the depths of the sea in a tongue older then words and more ancient the human and youkai alike. It was a voice of depth and madness and bubbled like a boiling sea, its horrid ebbing radiance a thing that scraped across her mind like a rake and upended both her sanity and calm as it went.

Were she awake, she would have screamed. But as her body lie safety unconscious on the Hakurei Shrine's steps, overlooked by a kind soul in a black hat, her mind was not so lucky. She could only sit and bear witness as _something_ called out to her from a place beyond time and space. Though she did not know what the strange words meant, nor fathom what sort of being could utter such blasphemies, she was afraid. Afraid of what it all meant. Afraid of the origins of such a vision of terror. And afraid that she might never wake, and would forever sit and listen to that maddening tone until her mind itself cracked in two.

But even in the depths of her dreams, she could hear a voice. It was one more human then the other. One that called out to her not from a realm of unknown horror, but that of reality. "Hey! You've been sleeping for long enough, kid. Geez... if you're out for much longer, Reimu is going to kill me ze." it was a voice concerned more with the wraith of a certain women, then the safety of her child, and there was no mistaking to whom it belonged.

As commanded, Asumu's consciousness followed her keeper's voice, lifting her state of mind from madness to stability and leaving the utterance of a being beyond comprehension behind for the world where she truly belonged.. Up and up she followed the witch's voice, towards a light much like the stars that hung in the night sky, until she finally reached the mountainous peak of her dreamy state, and suddenly awakened.

The first thing she saw was the night sky over the shrine, the same in which she had just fought. The second was an older woman dressed as a witch, who smiled down at her from above, her head having been placed ever so gently on her lap. "Welcome back, kid." Marisa said happily. "Guess this means your mom won't be having my head on a platter any time soon."

But Asumu could not laugh at such a lame attempt at humor, as soon as she could comprehend that she was now safely where she belonged, she did what she could not in her dreams, and screamed at the top of her lungs as long and as loud as she could.

* * *

In the last thirty seasons, while the outside world had marched on, their technology becoming faster and flashier, and their social mores evolving towards freedom and equality, Gensokyo still grappled with something of a revolution of their own. Since the days of the Urban Legend Crisis and subsequent attempt by a certain woman to exterminate all life on earth, the barrier that divided Gensokyo from the outside world had weakened ever so slightly, allowing for many small objects to drift in under the nose of the phantom country's less then vigilant overseers.

With cell phones, game devices, and other small gadgets pouring in by the dozen, the citizens of Gensokyo had become enamored with just a level of technology that gave them something to do in their idle hours, but in no way challenged their ideals or way of life. Marketed by the likes of the half-youkai owner of Korindou, and reverse engineered and mass produced by the kappas of the mountains and rivers, it was not uncommon these days to see children playing with electronic devices of all sorts while sitting outside, or adults talking to one another from long distances, chatting away the afternoon gossiping about the latest drama in the human village, or the antics of the strange girl who now called herself the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

In all, it was as if nothing had changed, but the way it was done, that had actually changed quite a bit. A fact made evident as Asumu and Marisa sat at a newly opened noodle shop in the human village, one staffed by kappa, and powered by a multitude of electronic gizmos made to run on magic rather then electricity. The two had ordered simple bowls of noodles that had been made over an "electric" oven and served steaming hot in pink and white bowls made on an assembly line, rather then by hand. Around them sat various humans, and a few incognito youkai, enjoying similar meals and chatting away the night. It was a lively place, and a loud one, that one might not have seen in Gensokyo a few decades ago.

"You had me worried there for an awhile, ze" Marisa said slurring down more then noodles then a person should in a single moment. "You kept squirming all over the place while you were sleeping and I had no idea what was going on. Then when you woke up and started screaming like you were falling from space, then I thought you were a goner for sure!"

Asumu shook her head and sighed, wishing with all her might to never again have to remember that vile dream of hers. She then swallowed her own share of noodles, one much smaller and more refined then that of her caretaker and spoke in a low and drawn out voice. "It wasn't anything like that. I just had a nightmare."

Marisa showed a look of concern as she consumed even more noodles, stuffing her face as a hamster might while no one was looking. "Really?" she said in a muffled and rather uncouth tone. "You and everyone else around here I guess."

Asumu took pause, and directed a look of concern of her own back at the black-hatted witch. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Well, rumor goes that a bunch of people in the human village have been hearing strange voices in their sleep, then waking up to find they're sweating like crazy and feeling like they almost died. I've got no clue what's causing it. But it sure sounds like the beginning of an incident to me." she commented between gluttonous acts.

Asumu raised her eye brow as she ate, none of that sounded good. And as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, it was her job to make sure such happenings were made "good" so to speak. So she looked at Marisa once more, focused with all her might, and adapted the facade of the shrine maiden once more. "An incident, what do you mean?" she asked with the utmost concern and poise.

"An incident! You know, something bad happening that involves all of Gensokyo. I'm sure you're mom explained that to you at least once." Marisa explained.

"She probably did, but there was so much she tried to cram into my head while I was training ot be a shrine maiden, its no wonder I don't remember it all." she said wistfully. "But if something big is going to happen soon. I imagine I should continue training. I don't want to be caught off guard by a real threat, like I was today when I lost that practice duel of ours."

Marisa laughed, then finished the rest of her noodle soup in one fell swoop. "That was a good fight to, you almost had me a few times there. But you got to learn to control yourself. You just can't go launching off Spell Cards meant to hurt people like that. I mean that is pretty much the whole reason your mom put the system into place decades ago. If you want to be a shrine maiden, you'll have to respect those rules just like she did." she said with an aura of seriousness that was almost entirely ruined by the noodle broth covering her face.

"I know." Asumu said with a sigh. "I just got excited, and tried harder then I should have. I always do that when I try to use my gaps."

Marisa laughed, then slapped Asumu in the most jovial way possible, causing the youth to recoil and nearly hit the table they were sitting at in the process. "She never did teach you to properly use those things, did she? Your other mom, I mean." she said, as Asumu attempted to right herself and regain her breath.

The youth then sighed. " _My_ _other mother..._ ", she thought. When was the last time they'd actually been in the same room together? When had they last shared a meal or even talked about how both of their lives were going? She could remember neither, and that brought a slight tear to the young shrine maiden's eye, in a show of sadness that even someone as dense as Marisa could see.

"Well anyway, don't sweat it." Marisa said, eying Asumu carefully as she fixed her eyes on the table between them and frowned. "I'm sure you'll do just fine on your own a few years down the road. But for now, if we're going to fight, could you please not use those things next time? They give me the creeps!"

Asumu nodded, the look on her face still one of sadness and light despair, She then looked up at her caretaker for the evening and tried her best to smile. But despite her best efforts, all that came out was a half cracked smirk, one that quivered and wobbled as she tried to maintain with all her might a facade of being all right.

"You know what, kid? The meal's on me tonight!" Marisa signed the their waitress with a wave of her hand and handed her a small pile of coins as payment for the nights meal. "So cheer up already, ok? In a few months your mom will be come home and we can all go back to being one big happy group of idiots around the shrine. So come on, lets go back to the shrine and call it a night. If you're still feeling like a mess after that, then we can drink till dawn and blame all the missing sake on a ghost if your mom asks where it went!"

Marisa offered her hand to the moping shrine maiden who nodded, then took it in kind and walked with her caretaker out the restaurant's front door and back towards the Hakurei shrine. Neither said anything on that short of a walk, there was simply nothing to be said. For Asumu's problems were not ones that could be solved with words, nor ones she was ready to speak aloud just yet. Instead, it was best to drown a haze of sake while they sat under star-filled night sky.

It was the Hakurei way, after all.

* * *

Profiles

Marisa Kirisame

Age: 46ish

Species: Human

Occupation: Magician

Talents: Magic, thievery

Relations: Asumu Hakurei (ward)

Signature Spell Card: Love Sign: Master Spark

Now aged several decades older, Marisa has slowed down just a bit from the days she spent stealing books from the Scarlet Devil Manor and solving incidents with her best friend. She spends most of her time with friends, minding the Kirisame magic shop, which is about as successful as it was thirty years ago, and watching over Asumu, who Reimu tasked her to keep safe whenever she was not around.

Asumu Hakurei

Age: 16?

Species: Half-Youkai

Occupation: Shrine Maiden

Talents: Exorcism, calligraphy, art

Relations: Reimu Hakurei (Mother) Marisa Kirisame (Guardian)

Signature Spell Card: Treasure Sign: Ying Yang Orb Gap

The young daughter of Reimu Hakurei and the current shrine maiden of their family's borderland shrine. She is a half-youkai who hides her heritage from the world, and tends to the same matters her mother did until about a decade or so ago. Though she shows promise as a shrine maiden, and has managed to strike peace agreements with many low level youkai throughout Gensokyo, she has yet to solve any large incidents and is considered by many to not have truly proven herself in her role just yet.

She is a soft spoken and traditional girl who is trained in all the native arts of the Shinto faith, including calligraphy, dance, art, and exorcism. Though in private, she can be rather crude and direct to the point of being uncouth.

It is unknown just who her other parent is, as Reimu refuses to talk about the matter. But Asumu's ability to use the mysterious power known as gaps has led many to speculate that she is directly connected to the Youkai of Gaps, Yukari Yakumo.


	3. Tea Party

Interlude

Tea Time

How many years had it been? How many years since her face had stopped wrinkling and the ravages of time stopped their work upon her skin? By her reckoning it had been forty years, a span of time in which she had traded her humanity for eternity and the act of role of Miko for that of mother. It was a path she she forty years ago couldn't even have fathomed to walk, yet here she was sitting at a table deep in a place few know even exists while sitting across from a woman feared by most of Gensokyo.

"Yukari, are you really going to sit their all afternoon and sip tea, or are we going to talk about our daughter and actually get something done today?"

Across the solid wooden table sat a woman decked in name and dress in purple. Her name was Yukari Yakumo and she was currently doing just as Reimu had said, sipping from a small cup of tea in a state of serene grace. "My beloved Reimu, we do have much to discuss, but could you wait until I've at least finished my tea before we talk?"

Reimu tapped her fingers in a simple rhythm against the wooden table and looked at Yukari with a looked of pure annoyance. "We could do this or we could, you know, ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING?!" Reimu yelled.

Yukari remained unphased by the verbal assault and continued to drink until she had her fill. She then sat the ornate cup aside on the table and smiled. "All right, now we might discuss what our precious child has been up to as of late. But where shall we begin?"

Reimu sighed, as she often did in Yukari's presence. "I've heard word from Marisa that she passed out after a mock Spellcard battle and saw something so horrible that she couldnt even begin to describe it afterwords. Knowing how these things go, I really think that we might have an incident on our hands very soon."

Yukari's looked turned serious, though lax in many things, would not take a threat to Gensokyo so lightly. "Go on..." she stoically.

Reimu shook her head and laughed. "That's all I know. Until our little girl can sort out her jumbled memories, I don't think there is anything we can do about this...

Yukari laughed and took one final sip of her tea, which she rattled at Reimu, who, like Pavlov's Dog, picked up and refilled. "How does it feel sitting back and letting someone else take care of an incident?" she said.

"I'm used to it." Reimu said as she gave her wife back her cup of tea. "Its been a very long time since I was the shrine maiden of Hakurei, and as unreliable as she can be sometimes, Marisa has done a good job guiding Asumu along the right path while I'm away."

"And which path is that?" Yukari chuckled.

"The same one you forced me down for so many decades, at least until hanging around you for so long made me unfit to hold the title anymore."

"Do you regret giving up your humanity, Reimu?" Yukari asked.

Sitting with her knee risen and one hand on the table Reimu thought long and hard. When she was young she had quelled more incidents, disasters, and catastrophes then anyone, but in her later years love had take precedence over that and as a result her humanity had slowly eroded away in the face of the phantasmal woman with she was so smitten.

"I guess I'm a little creeped out that someday Asumu will look older then both of us, but other then that, I don't regret it one bit. Even if it did mean becoming a youkai."

With that, she crawled around the table and kissed her beloved on the cheek.

Such was another day in a small but happy household.


	4. The Mysterious Girl in Black

Chapter 4

The Mysterious Girl in Black

The sky was clear that day, as if the heavens were trying to make up for the shade of black that had stained the dreams of the residents of Gensokyo. And under it lay Asamu Hakurei, one arm covering her eyes and the other fixed on the heavens. What lie beyond the endless sky meant little to her, but since the darkness of that horrible dream had chilled her down to her very soul, she had begun to wonder what lie beyond the border between this world and the next, in the spaces that even her Other Mother could not comprehend. It was a scary thought, but the sky was so clear, and the sun so bright, she couldn't fell all that sad.

Tiredly, she rolled onto her side, her eyes heavy. Though the latest Hakurei maiden was made of stronger stuff, the dark dreams of the night before were enough to scare her into praying to the long forgotten name of the Hakurei Shrine's god, and even warding the floor and doors of her bedroom, in hopes that it would be enough to keep away the creeping darkness that had invaded her dreams the night before.

"Don't go to sleep ze, you never know what might be hiding in that hard head of yours ze!" from above Asamu came a voice both cheerful yet conniving that belonged to none other then Marisa, a woman who had been appointed to the position of Asamu's guardian by her more reliable mother and who's head may one day served up on a platter if she messed that up.

"Don't bother me right now, Marisa. I'm trying to think." The shrine maiden grummbled then rolled to her other side, though the day was fine and the skies clear as crystal, for her, night had already dawned and brought with it the feeling that this was something she had ro deal with ASAP.

"Let me guess, you're thinkin about those nightmares everyone in town has been having lately?"

Asamu sat up with haste and looked at her caretaker with apprehensive eyes. "How did you know?" she said while blinking in surprise.

Marisa smiled a knowing smiled and then spoke . "Your just like your mother, well one of them anyway, when you get a problem stuck in your head you can't rest until you've taken care of the problem and are back home holding a drinking party to celebrate your victory. So I took the liberty of asking around the human villiage to see if anyone knew anything more about the nightmares going around lately."

"And what did you find out...?" Asamu asked.

"Well I spent most of my time at Korindou's place, and he told me that most of his customers, humans and youkai alike, having been complaining of nightmares where they hear a voice speaking in a language they can't understand, and get a feeling like they're going to drown. Then, when they wake up, they feel short of breath, end up sweating like a pig, and some even told him that they felt like they were going to die. So pretty much the exact thing you told me over dinner last night, seems like whatever everybody that its becoming a pretty big problem, cuz people are actually skipping sleeping to avoid these nightmares."

Asamu growled and punched the ground in front of her with her right hand, which struck stone and sounded a light thump that sounded painful enough that even Marisa winced at the sight. "I should be out saving them. Not laying around the shrine and waiting for the problem to get worse. That's what mom would have done!" Asamu looked at Marisa with pleading eyes, prompting the older woman to pat her head and sigh.

"Now that isn't true, Asamu. Your mom might have told you differently, but she'd probably be doing the exact same thing you're doing right now if she was in her situation. Believe me, we've been best friends for over thirty years, and I know for a fact that she is one of the laziest, good-for-nothings that has ever graced Gensokyo in over a century. So don't beat yer self up to bad, once we know what is causing this problem, the two of us can go out and beat the crap out of whatever dork is causing this in the with that nasty Spell Card of yours."

Asamu took a deep breath and calmed herself. "You promise, because I can't solve this one alone."

"Of course, I helped your mom more times then I can count, and I'll do the same for you."

"Thanks, by the way, was mom really that lazy?"

"Yeah, I can't really speak for her since she went off to live with your other mom, but she spent most of her day just lazing around the shrine, eating, or sleeping. I mean look at it this way, your only sixteen and your already doing better then she is!" Marisa laughed.

But before another word could be said, a the ringing of a bell echoed through the crisp spring air loud and clear as day. It was the bell connected to the offering box that lay at the front of the Hakurei Shrine and the sound caused both girls sitting on its steps to look towards it with a look of disbelief on their face.

"...Did someone just offer money to the shrine?" Marisa asked.

"I guess so..." Asasmu was in a state of shock, despite everything the Hakurei shrine maidens had done for Gensokyo in the past four decades or so, it was rare for anyone to care enough to actually offer money at the shrine, which seemed to be run day-to-day on money that came from a mysterious donor. "Sometimes miracles do happen!" she said with great cheer, "But could you wait a moment, Marisa. I'm going to greet our most pious benifactor in person. If they love this shrine enough to offer money to us, it is the least I can do!"

"Have fun!" Marisa said in return.

With great haste, Asamu approached the shrine's offering box with a smile on her face as wide as that of a child on Christmas. But as she came closer, instead of seeing a person she knew, or even one dressed in the typically Japanese garb of Gensokyo, there instead stood a woman dressed in head to toe in black robes that covered her body from her ankles all the way to her head, which boasted its own wrapping that covered all but her eyes and mouth.

Regardless of the appearance of her newest donor, Asamu thought, she would have to be on her best behavior and adapted the personality and stylings of a shrine maiden in kind. Her face was joyful, her stand pious, and mind fillled with a will to avoid looking in the offering box to see how much had been given, rather then greeting the person who had given it in the first place. "Hello, my dearest patron, I must thank you for donating to our humble shrine. We don't get many visitors these days, and every little bit helps. So again, I thank you, and may your days be filled with fortune, and your wishes granted in the near future."

The girl in black giggled at the facade of a maiden and then offered a kind word of her own. "I was just coming through when I saw this wonderful shrine of yours, I couldn't help myself but to stop by and offer a little something."

"So, you mentioned you were coming through, what part of Gensokyo are you from?"

"Oh, I'm not from Gensokyo," the girl said in a matter of fact manner. "You might call me an explorer of sorts, I've been to many places and worlds at the beck and call of my master, and it just so happened that today I stumbled upon your cute little country. I must say, of all the phantom haunted worlds I've seen, it is among the nicest and most well kept. Though I assume that is in no small part to shrines like these, I suppose."

"Oh, well regardless from which you came, I thank you again for your patronage. I'm Asamu Ya...er Hakurei, the present maiden of this shrine and its keeper."

"Since you were so nice to offer your name, I shall in turn offer mine. I am Ai Allisha Al Hazard, called the Maiden in Black."

What a strange name, Asamu thought, this girl had said she was a wanderer, but people just don't wander into Gensokyo. You were either spirited away by an outside force, or the victim of a dimensional slip or other phantasmal incident. If you can just "Walk" in, then a you'd have to be a magician, psychic, or better. "Good to know! But would you like to come in for cooked and tea? I've got nothing to do this afternoon and wouldn't mind the company. Especially for all the generosity that you've shown our little shrine today."

Ai shook her head no and sighed. "I'm afraid that I have business given to me by my master to attend to. It appears that she wanted to know something about this world before I leave for home, but I should be here for awhile, so the next time that I'm near the shrine, I will take you up on that offer, how does that sound?" Ai awaited an answer with baited breath, causing Asamu to squirm just a little as she was put on the spot.

Friends were not something that Asamu was all that familiar with, having been raised mostly in seclusion for the first ten years of her life as her very existence was a shock to most who knew her mother in some capacity, the only people who really frequented the shrine were Marisa and a few old friends of mom who still came by to drink and chat on occasion. To have a friend of her very own was a very tempting prospect, and made her heart race at the very thought.

"OK!" she blurted out without thinking, she then quickly returned to her more serious work demeanor. "Just make sure to send message of when you'll be arriving ahead of time, as we've been having some issues around Gensokyo as of late and I may be out trying to solve them."

"Very well, till we meet again, may fortune smile on you to as well, Shrine Maiden of Hakurei."

The so-called Maiden in Black then walked down the shrine steps, and was soon gone beyond the horizon for parts unknown. As she left, Asamu excitedly fished the donation she had left out of the shrine's box. "Hopefully this will be enough to fix that hole in the wall Suika left the last time she was here..." she murmured before finally grabbing at what seemed to be a single, round coin. Upon pulling it out, she examined it with a keen eye, but upon its front found a design not native to the phantom country, one not found among youkai or humans alike. "An octopus?" she sighed. "I can't spend this!"

She hung her head low, the wall would remain boarded up as it had been for sometime it seemed. "What a let down...but at least I made a new friend today! Though I do wonder where this coin came from. But oh well, I have to start making plans...and learn how to bake cookies."


End file.
